In preparation for an exciting, expansive and mindful 2018, I am sharing a few simple living practices that you can integrate into your day-to-day living this year! On the eve of the New Year, I find myself reflecting and evaluating on all of the successes and challenges of 2018, I bet that you are doing the same thing too.

​I hope this year will bring you success, abundance and an opportunity to meet your goals. As I am looking at what worked here on A Day in the Life, I am looking at the top 3 things that I hope to offer in 2018: DIY videos, a Shibori textile launch and more Creative Sundays with you!

I bet you have some amazing things that you want to achieve in 2018. I have a goal to grow my Travel and DIY categories. In fact, we have already planned trips to Japan and India this Spring. Also, I hope to collaborate more with various travel writers this year. In order to improve my content and meet this goal, I am planning my editorial calendar well in advance. I am participating in a content planning challenge with XOSarah! If you are a blogger, then you should check it out too, the challenge starts the week of January 8th and I can't wait.

What are some of your goals for 2018 and how do you make plans to approach them? 

2 books that are currently fueling my approach to 2018 are The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and The Universe has your Back! These are books that I have wanted to read for some time. Now, I am finally getting around to it! I always start off the New Year by cleaning up all of the the spaces around our house. Last year, we painted the living room on our days off work. This year, we are really into decluttering our space. The author, Mari Kondo lives in Tokyo, and I find her clean and modern aesthetic totally appealing. It turns out that she starts the day with a simple ritual too! 

Thanks to a recommendation from Nadja of the Designer Townhouse I discovered the book, The Universe Has Your Back, which I am loving! Although, I am only on chapter 3, this book requires a lot of mental and emotional work, so I will check in on the process to update you on my progress.

If you have already read this one, Bernstein's latest book Judgement Detox, is available now! 

Happy Holidays to all of you! I hope your holidays are bright, relaxing and most of all peaceful. 
Peace was the chosen theme for our holiday cards this year as 2017 felt decisively less than perfect in many ways. Creatively I am extremely grateful for many things and accomplishments like my creative workshop series, video diy posts, and all of the traveling that we did! 

Today, I am eager to share with you something that I have wanted to try for a few years, how-to create your very own peace sign greenery wreath. I like the idea of a peace wreath because I feel like it can be left up throughout the New Year. It feels good to finally try my hand at something like this!

I was able to do this project in about 20 minutes and below are my favorite supplies for creating your Peace Sign Wreath. 

​For this project I suggest: 

• Crepe myrtle branches and wax flowers, I picked mine up at Whole Foods 
• 12" embroidery ring or larger
• floral wire cutter set
• 3/8" x 36" wooden dowel​
• hot glue gun

I hope you have enjoyed this simple Peace Wreath tutorial. Please let me know, if you try it by tagging your picture on Instagram, so that I can see it! From our family to yours, we wish you joy, peace, health and prosperity in 2018. I will be back after the holiday and I look forward to celebrating with you! 

If you enjoyed learning how to make this wreath, then you will may also enjoy this Greenery Wreath how-to! If you are short on time, but you like the idea of a peace sign wreath, then here are a few cool wreaths that I found online.

I had great luck this year with last minute shopping, so go ahead and procrastinate if you feel like it, it will all work out, it's fine! I thought I would share my top finds last minute gifts and online finds with you. With the holidays fast approaching, I had to kick it into high gear from the sofa and my bedroom. We needed teacher gifts and to finish up most of our shopping before leaving for our holiday trip. The sheer number of items that I was able to scoop up between Whole Foods, Anthropologie and Amazon was quite amazing!

I know it's already Tuesday, but with Amazon Prime, many of these items can arrive within 2-3 days and if all else fails, then you can run to the nearest Whole Foods (where I found many good things) and you can finish up your shopping there! Here is my collection all laid out prior to wrapping.

5 of my favorite last minute gifts are:
Amazon gift cards, soy candle set, a mini-facial kit, Rosebud lip balm and a pair of binoculars. 

Since, my husband loves to research all the best photo technology which helps me to stay current with my blog, I asked him to recommend gift ideas for bloggers who wish to upgrade their photography equipment. While some of these items are a serious investment, I just loved the flexible tripod for taking all sorts of iPhone photos!
His top 5 photography accessories for bloggers are: 
Jooby GorillaPod 3K kit, Canon digital camera, Canon STM Lens, tripod, and Canon 50mm Lens.

You guys, I hope that you are excited about the holidays as I am! If you can not wait to wrap some gifts, then please check out my Furoshiki fabric gift wrap tutorial. I think you may also enjoy my Gift Guide for Creatives, and my Toddler Gift Guide too! Happy last minute hunting!